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Wayne Grudem’s Incomplete Retraction

Wayne Grudem has finally retracted his ill informed and ill advised endorsement of Donald Trump (Trump’s Moral Character and the Election). As he himself admits, he didn’t do his research, and that upon looking further it is clear that no one for whom character counts should support Trump’s candidacy.

However, I share this only because of how often it was shared with me, not as an endorsement of Grudem’s opinions.

While I am happy to see him retract his endorsement (including the extraordinary step of having Townhall remove the original article), this article and his thinking continue to be poorly researched, containing inexcusable gaps for someone who presumes to speak as a political pundit.

He begins the article by saying, “There is no morally good presidential candidate in this election.” and throughout falsely characterizes this election as a binary choice.

This is the same uninformed rhetoric that lead to his original endorsement of Donald Trump. A few minutes of research will tell you there are places in this country where six or more candidates for president will appear on the ballot. Gary Johnson is on the ballot in all 50 states, Jill Stein is on 45, Evan McMullin is even on 11.

Can any of us know for certain that a candidate is “morally good”? Maybe not. But it seems slanderous to categorically deny that Johnson, Stein, McMullin and others are “morally good”. I disagree extensively with Jill Stein’s policies, I don’t agree with everything Johnson or McMullin propose either, but as far as the evidence shows (something with which Grudem continues to evidence his disfamiliarity) these are decent, honest, moral people.

You could argue he meant the major party candidates, but that’s not what he said. And towards the end he states, “Therefore I am deeply reluctant to simply walk away from the process in disgust, or vote for a write-in candidate…” as if he isn’t even aware that at minimum Gary Johnson will be an official candidate for president on Grudem’s own election ballot.

So I offer this quick note to Mr. Grudem himself:

Wayne,

Walking away or voting for a write-in candidate are not the only alternatives to casting your ballot this year for Trump or Clinton.

Elections are referendums on the direction government policy will take in the coming years. If you presume to give others advice on what direction they should support you should at least make some small effort to inform yourself on the alternatives being presented. Many of my friends and relatives were unfortunately influenced by your original article, and you owe them better than a face-saving piece of writing where you finally admit Trump’s moral bankruptcy but then conclude with no better guidance than, “But what’re we gonna do? These are our two choices.”

We have more than two choices this year. You and other Trump Cheerleaders owe it to your readers to admit that fact and consider the alternatives.